That’s a ten-fold increase over the $80 million majority owner John Moores paid for the team in 1994.

And with the colossal television contracts being negotiated these days for local broadcast rights, the value of teams can only go up, experts say. The sales price for the Padres, for example, includes $200 million in upfront money the team received as an advance payment from Fox Sports San Diego as part of a new 20-year television agreement. The sale of the team still requires approval by other Major League Baseball owners, who could take action as soon as Aug. 16 when they meet in Denver

Owning a team, while a vanity acquisition that shines a bright spotlight on the owners and their other financial interests, is still, at bottom, a business that can pay huge dividends for the patient investor. It’s also a limited asset — there are just 30 teams in the Major Leagues.

“There can be a great source of pleasure from owning a team, whether it’s the ego gratification, the buzz you get, the owner’s box where you can invite your business associates and friends,” said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College and author of “Baseball and Billions.”

“But when you have to spend $600 million, a billion dollars to buy a team, there are not that many people in the world who can spend that and be indifferent to the financial ramifications. In the old days, when you bought a team for $20 million, yeah, it was a little toy. Today, there are few who can say this is a toy.”

There are a number of economic complexities involved in owning a baseball team, not to mention circumstances on and off the field that are often beyond the control of the owner and the franchise. Here’s a primer on the financial ins and outs of owning a team, drawn from interviews with several experts.

Q: Is owning a team a good investment?

A: Most experts agree that few teams fail to appreciate over time. As an asset that is fairly certain to grow in value, it’s a winner, but there’s also the reality that many franchises, especially those in smaller and mid-size markets, fail to turn a profit year in and year out. With costly player salaries and the year-to-year uncertainty surrounding team and player performance, consistent returns can be difficult. “There’s not a lot of money to be made (annually) in a market like San Diego,” says former Padres President Dick Freeman. “But there are teams that make significant amounts of money in particular years, like after the World Series or a lucrative TV deal.” Owners, however, are generally willing to sustain losses for a few years, recognizing that they’ll eventually be able to cash out with a sizable return on their investment.

Q: What sort of appreciation have team owners seen in recent years?

A: The Los Angeles Dodgers are an extreme example of the high prices a team can command, but others have seen similar spikes in value, like the Houston Astros, who sold for $610 million last year, more than five times the last sale price of $117 million in 1992. Similarly, the Chicago Cubs sold for $845 million in 2009, an increase of more than $820 million over their 1981 sale price of $20.5 million.

Q: What are the primary revenues a baseball team can count on?

A: Historically, money generated from ticket sales, concessions and parking have been the largest source of revenue, but increasingly, rich TV deals are coming close to or eclipsing revenue at the turnstile. The Padres saw their TV revenue soar when they signed a 20-year $1.2 billion contract with Fox Sports. They will also retain a 20 percent equity position in the new Fox Sports San Diego. Even better was the Los Angeles Angels’ 20-year deal with Fox for $3 billion, which went a long way toward helping the team sign free-agent slugger Albert Pujols. Other key revenue includes corporate-related spending, like naming rights and sponsorships, leasing of luxury suites; merchandise; and revenue-sharing from national TV contracts.

Q: What about expenses?

A: Player salaries are clearly number one, typically representing at least 60 percent of all expenditures. Adding to the costs are front office salaries, marketing, travel, ballpark maintenance and operations and minor league team operations. For the few teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, for example, who spend enormous amounts on marquee players and exceed a specified cap, there is a luxury tax that they must pay that is shared among all the teams.

Q: What business strategies can owners adopt to ensure profitability and inspire fan loyalty?

A: Building a new ballpark and striking high-paying TV deals are the big-ticket items that can make a huge difference. Barring those measures, owners can step up their game on customer service, offer enticing promotions, or secure lucrative sponsorships. But it can be challenging to sustain high attendance when a team has a losing record. “There’s no one magic bullet,” said Scott Minto, director of San Diego State University’s sports MBA program. “I think customer experience is really important in places where you lack the history of the Red Sox or Yankees. How the team does on the field, you can’t guarantee that. What you can control is how you treat the customer.”

David Carter, a sports marketing expert who founded The Sports Business Group in Redondo Beach and is a professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business, believes that fans will remain loyal as long as they believe the owners are “doing everything they can to put a winning team on the field. They understood the team isn’t going to win every year.”

Q: What are the risks in owning a team?

A: A slumping economy, player injuries, a capable team that doesn’t live up to expectations, poor weather and the remote chance a team simply doesn’t appreciate in value.

Q: What competition do baseball teams face in cities where they’re effectively a monopoly?

A: In an attractive area like San Diego, where the number of outdoor activities seems limitless, almost everything competes with a trip to the ballpark. “It’s every kind of sports and entertainment activity,” said Carter, “even participatory sports, going to Mission Bay for the day instead of going to the game.”